The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for generating two signals with a pre-determined spacing between mutually corresponding signal edges.
This application claims the benefit of the Mar. 28, 2002 priority date of German application DE 102.14.304.8-53, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.
Semiconductor devices, such as, for example, DRAM memory devices or other microelectronic apparatuses, are generally provided with delay locked loops (DLLs) in order to synchronize the data output with an external clock signal, or bring them in phase with one another.
In the so-called double data rate scheme, a data bit is driven with the rising clock edge and a data bit is driven with the falling clock edge. If the duty ratio (duty cycle) is assumed to be 0.5, i.e. the HIGH level of the clock signal has the same length as the LOW level of the clock signal, the maximum bit duration amounts to half of the clock period in the double data rate scheme (DDR). However, the clock typically does not have a precise duty ratio of 50%. If the data are then simply driven by the edges, this leads to a shift in the length of the bit duration, i.e. the period of time in which the data are valid.
In order to improve the uniformity of the bit duration, duty ratio correction circuits have been proposed in the past. The aim of a duty ratio correction circuit is to provide a clock on a chip with a duty ratio of 0.5 even if an imprecise external clock signal having a duty ratio that deviates from this is present. However, the previously known methods are difficult to implement and consume a large amount of current, such as e.g. in a DLL with a differential current mode in which the crossover point of the internal clocks is shifted by adding an analog current onto for example the true, but not the complementary, clock path.
An architecture that is already used in delay locked loops (DLLs) has two delay lines in order to eliminate the sensitivity to propagation delay differences between the rising and falling clock edges. FIG. 5 illustrates such an architecture having two delay devices 5 (delay lines). Two receivers 22A, 22B, which are connected in a complementary manner to a true clock signal 1 and a complementary clock signal 2, are provided in this arrangement. The receivers generate a clock signal 3 and a clock signal 4 complementary thereto, which run through identically controlled delay devices 5 (delay lines). After passing though a driver stage 23, a delayed internal clock signal 11 and an inverted delayed clock signal 12 are present. The delayed internal clock signal 11 is fed via a feedback 8, which inevitably has a certain delay (feedback delay), in the form of a delayed signal 21 to a phase detector 7, which compares the phase of the delayed signal 21 with the phase of the clock signal 3 and accordingly forwards a control signal 17 (FASTER) or a control signal 18 (bSLOWER) to a conventional pump device 6 (charge pump). A control signal 19, 20 is provided in the pump device 6 (charge pump), by means of which control signal the two delay devices 5 (delay lines) are controlled virtually in parallel.
FIG. 6 shows part of a conventional pump device 6 (charge pump) in a diagrammatic illustration, in which the control signal 17 (FASTER) serves to drive an n-channel field-effect transistor 25, the control signal 18 (bSLOWER) driving a p-channel field-effect transistor 24. A control signal 20, e.g. a voltage level, is realized by charging or discharging a capacitor 28 by means of the switching devices 24, 25, which, according to the control signals 17, 18, connects a voltage source 27 or ground 26 to one terminal of the capacitor 28, while the supply voltage 27 is applied to the other terminal.
FIG. 7 shows a current mirror, which is likewise part of the conventional pump device 6 (charge pump) for generating a control signal 19 from the control signal 20. To that end, the control signal 20 is fed to the drive terminal of a p-channel field-effect transistor 24, which can connect a supply voltage source 27 to one terminal of a capacitor 28 for the purpose of charging that capacitor 28, the other terminal of the capacitor 28 being connected to ground 26. The voltage across the capacitor corresponds to the control signal 19, which is fed to the drive terminal of an n-channel field-effect transistor 25 in order to be able to discharge the capacitor 28.
FIG. 8 represents the diagrammatic illustration of a delay device 5 (delay line), in which an input signal 29 is fed in parallel to a p-channel field-effect transistor 24 and to an n-channel field-effect transistor 25. The forwarding of the signal 29 is both dependent on the control signal 20, which is fed to the drive terminal of a p-channel field-effect transistor 24, and on a signal 19, which is fed to an n-channel field-effect transistor 25. A supply voltage 27 can be forwarded via the p-channel field-effect transistors 24 according to the input signal 29 and the control signal 20, whereas the potential of the ground terminal 26 can be forwarded via the n-channel field-effect transistors 25 according to the input signal 29 and the control signal 19. This forwarded signal is again fed to a stage of essentially identical construction, which generates the output signal 30 of the controllable delay device 5 (delay line). The input signal 29 is delayed or extended by a specific period of time depending on the control signals 19, 20 and controllable edges are thus generated in the output signal 30 in a controlled fashion.
FIG. 9 shows the signal profiles of a delay locked loop according to FIG. 5 with a dual delay device 5 (dual delay line). The external clock signal 1 has a shifted duty ratio (duty cycle) since the HIGH level of the clock signal is present for a different length of time than the LOW level of the clock signal. The complementary external clock signal 2 corresponds to the inverted external clock signal 1. In comparison with the external clock signal 1, a clock signal 3, which is generated on the chip and has to pass through the receiver 22a, is slightly delayed, which equally applies to the complementary clock signal 4 generated on a chip. In the locked state illustrated, the signal 21 delayed via the feedback 8 has no phase difference with respect to the clock signal 3 generated on the chip. The shift between the delayed signal 21 of the feedback and the delayed internal clock signal 11 results from the feedback delay, the shifted delayed clock signal 12 in this case having an inverted profile with respect to the delayed internal clock signal 11.
Consequently, with an apparatus according to FIG. 5, although a delayed internal clock signal 11 and a clock signal 12 complementary thereto can be generated with precisely corresponding edge instants, no correction of the duty ratio (duty cycle) can be performed if the duty ratio of the external clock signal 1 deviates from the desired value of 0.5.
The control signal of the delay device 5 (delay line) is generated in a conventional manner by locking the phase of the delayed internal clock signal 11 with the received clock signal 3 and the use of a pump device 6 in accordance with FIGS. 2 and 3 (charge pump). By virtue of the fact that both delay devices 5 (delay lines) are driven with the same control voltages 19, 20, an identical delay time results therefrom for both devices.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for generating two signals with a pre-determined spacing between the mutually corresponding signal edges and a corresponding apparatus whereby it is possible to correct an imprecise duty ratio of an external clock signal to a precise internal clock signal with a duty ratio of, in particular, 0.5.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by means of the apparatus for generating two signals with a predetermined spacing between the mutually corresponding signal edges as specified in claim 1 and by means of the method according to claim 11.
The idea underlying the present invention consists in shifting an internal clock signal and a shifted internal clock signal with respect to one another in such a way that, in particular, the rising edges of the internal clock signal and of the shifted internal clock signal are spaced apart from one another by, in particular, half a clock period of the period duration of the input clock.
In the present invention, the problem mentioned in the introduction is solved in particular by virtue of the fact that the second delay device (delay line) is driven by an independent second pump device (charge pump) having a slightly modified pump circuit.
In accordance with one preferred development, a second device for generating a second control signal has a duty ratio detector.
In accordance with a further preferred development, the second device for generating the second control signal has a pump device by means of which the second control signal can be generated in a manner dependent on an output signal of the duty ratio detector.
In accordance with a further preferred development, the pump device has switching devices and at least one capacitance.
In accordance with a further preferred development, the switching devices have both p-channel field-effect transistors and n-channel field-effect transistors.
In accordance with a further preferred development, the output signals of the duty ratio detector are coupled only to control terminals of the n-channel field-effect transistors, these n-channel field-effect transistors being embodied in doubled (parallel) fashion, in particular.
In accordance with a further preferred development, the duty ratio detector carries out an edge detection whose output signal has a HIGH level between a rising edge of the delayed internal clock signal and a rising edge of the shifted inverted delayed internal clock signal and a LOW level between a rising edge of the shifted inverted delayed internal clock signal and a rising edge of the delayed internal clock signal.
In accordance with a further preferred development, the method uses an analog delay locked loop (DLL).
In accordance with a further preferred development, the method uses a digital, clock-controlled delay locked loop (DLL).
In accordance with a further preferred development, the method is used to generate a clock signal on a semiconductor device which has a duty ratio of 0.5.
Exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the drawings and explained in more detail in the description below.